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Chapter 79. Only Seeking the Truth and Obeying God Can Resolve a Corrupt Disposition

Chapter 79. Only Seeking the Truth and Obeying God Can Resolve a Corrupt Disposition

Chapter 79. Only Seeking the Truth and Obeying God Can Resolve a Corrupt Disposition

Your conditions are all pretty good now—very normal, right? (Yes.) Are you having any difficulties in your entry into life? No difficulties? That’s really not bad! (I’m currently working hard on establishing a proper relationship with God.) Ah, so this is what you’re entering into. Have you had some entry? Have you had any gains in this period of time? (Well, it varies.) Which do you experience more, the good times or the bad? (Recently, there have been more good times.) Overall, are the vast majority of times good, say 80 or 90 percent, or are the bad times around 80 or 90 percent? (There are slightly more good times, but probably not as much as 90 percent.) It’s normal for there to be times of negativity and weakness. Even the weather is not all sunny skies. There are times of rain, wind, hail, and clouds. People’s moods are the same. It’s all normal. People who believe in God have more happy times! When non-believers make a living in the outside world, they live in the place infested with demons and unclean and evil spirits. Their dealings with other people are like dealings with demons. It’s so tiring—their suffering is great. The difficulties of believers are much less than all of those people, right? First, believers have comfort, something to lean on, and joy in their hearts. It’s just that sometimes they encounter something and they don’t know how to practice, and so they are a bit negative and weak, or they encounter difficulties and they cannot find the principle, nor do they know how to put the truth into practice, and so they feel a little pain in their hearts. Or they do something wrong and feel that they are indebted to God—they are a little bit sad. But generally, they still have comfort, isn’t that right? Believing in God is the right path, the right path for human life. God chose you, and you also chose to walk this path. You cooperate with God to take the right path for human life, and if in the end you are capable of satisfying God’s will, of being perfected and saved by Him, then this is fine. This is perfect. Is this your ideal? (Yes.) That’s great! It’s great to have this ideal. This is positive, and God fulfills people’s positive ideals and ambitions. Aren’t there times when you have ideals, ambitions, and desires that are negative and bad? When those things are present, don’t they impact your spiritual life and your proper relationship with God? (Yes.) Once you’re living in that kind of state, don’t you fall into a bad condition, and you become negative and weak? What can be done when this happens? (Pray to God, come in front of Him.) Are there times you don’t feel like praying? Are there times when you’d rather live in a fallen state, let things slide, and just let Satan do what it will? Are there times you don’t want to pray to God—you’d rather be lazy, take a nap, and be self-indulgent? (There are.) Do you know what kind of situation this is when your performance is like this? (Turning away from God.) Is this a good or a bad thing? (Bad.) What leads to this? Is this an expression of great or small stature? (Small stature.) When you encounter this kind of situation, when you are in this kind of state, you think: “My stature is so small; I cannot live on my own. I always have to rely on having others for fellowship, to support me, and there must be people who can deal with and prune me, as well as God’s discipline. I do not have the capability to live on my own.” What is lacking here? The truth is lacking. You understand too little of the truth, and your stature is too small! If someone’s stature is too small, they cannot resist various kinds of negative states, or fallen states or thoughts, right? This is a display of small stature. When this is the case, aren’t people’s lives very tiring? What kind of state do people with small stature generally live in? Do you have personal experience? Living in what kinds of states makes you feel lonely, in pain, aimless, as well as worn out, lost, directionless, always moody, and lacking the desire to pursue the truth or to pray? What states create these kinds of feelings in you, what leads to this—do you know? Do you have experience with this? So have you ever been negative and weak? Haven’t there been times when you encountered an issue or a difficulty that you couldn’t overcome, and you wanted to just throw your hands in the air and give up? (Yes.) Give it some more thought. What leads to these kinds of states? Are these things thought of and planned from people’s subjective wishes? (No.) That’s certainly not it. So try to figure out what leads to this. Ponder this question. If a person understands a lot of the truth and has a grasp on many aspects of their corrupt disposition, if their self-knowledge is very deep and they know how they should satisfy God’s will, how they should satisfy God in different circumstances, how to handle issues that they encounter and what principles to keep, if they possess this kind of stature, then what will their state be like? Is it possible that they wouldn’t be weak? That they wouldn’t be even a little bit negative? (No, it’s impossible.) So how does their negativity and weakness arise and how is it resolved? Didn’t you ever consider learning from them? Have you ever engaged in seeking on these issues? So it seems that generally when you’ve been negative and weak, when you have been faced with some difficulty, you just muddle through it without facing it seriously. You just get by, and have scrambled along until now. The fact that you have made it this far is really very fortunate, very lucky. It is God’s grace—God has led you this far.

What was the question I asked earlier? (What states lead us to be negative and weak, and to have those kinds of presentations?) Think about this question. Do you have an answer? In theory, it’s that people don’t understand the truth. Isn’t that right? So before people understand the truth, what do they rely on in their lives? (A corrupt satanic disposition.) Isn’t this just the conclusion? Do you have the answer or not? (Yes.) So what was the question I just asked? When you encounter a difficulty, you throw your hands up in the air, become restless, weak, in pain, constrained, and bound; you have no path to take, and then become negative and lacking in faith and feel there’s no meaning—what causes this? (A corrupt satanic disposition.) So now you’ve seen it, right? When people don’t understand the truth, what kind of disposition do they live in? What kind of life do they live within, and what do they rely on in their lives? (A corrupt satanic disposition.) So what does a corrupt satanic disposition create in people? It makes people arrogant, it makes them resist and betray God, and it makes them oppose Him. These things, all of these corrupt dispositions—do they bring people joy, happiness, and comfort, or pain, negativity, and weakness? (Pain, negativity, and weakness.) So now you know. Where does mankind’s pain, negativity, and weakness come from? What causes it? (It’s caused by a corrupt satanic disposition.) Right. So why can a corrupt satanic disposition lead to these things? Why can’t it bring spiritual joy, comfort, peace, and happiness to people? (Because it’s not a positive thing. It’s not the truth.) (It’s an adverse thing.) So why would these adverse things make people negative? If people aren’t happy then they’re not happy—why would they be negative? (Because people have corrupt dispositions. They always have their own desires and wild ambitions, and in reality when they cannot meet them they suffer in their hearts. When they understand the truth but they cannot put it into practice, they also have difficulties and pain.) Would all of you say that what this sister has said is on the right track? (Yes.) Has this been your experience? Have you had this level of experience? (We’ve experienced this.) A corrupt satanic disposition is very deeply rooted in people, it is their life, and so what is the pursuit of a human? What do people want to gain? Under the driving force of a corrupt satanic disposition, what are people’s ideals, hopes, ambitions, and life goals and directions? Aren’t they contrary to positive things? Firstly, people always want to be stars, famous people, or famous actors. Are these positive things? They wish to gain great fame and prestige, to bring honor to their ancestors, which is not at all in line with positive things. In addition, this runs counter to the law of God’s rule over mankind’s fate. Why would I say that? What kind of person does God want? Is it someone who is great, a celebrity, a noble person, a world-shaking person? Is that the kind of person that God wants? (No.) So what kind of person does God want, then? Tell Me. (Someone with their feet firmly on the ground, who is a worthy creature.) Aha, so someone with their feet firmly on the ground who pursues to be a worthy creature, who can fulfill a creature’s duty. This is one part of it. What else? (Someone who fears God and shuns evil.) This is another. What else is there? (Someone who is obedient to God.) (Someone who is honest and knows God.) That’s another. (A person who stands by God in all things.) Someone who is in accord with God, right? Is there anything else? Has there been anything in the recent words about upholding their own place as a human being? What are the original words—can you recite them? You haven’t eaten or drunk much of this kind of God’s word.

Don’t you always want to spread your wings and fly high, to go solo? You always want to be the eagle, not the little bird, and you don’t want to keep your feet firmly on the ground, right? People’s objects of pursuit and the driving force and starting points for those objects of pursuit are contrary to the laws of God’s rule over everything, His orchestration of everything, and God’s control over mankind’s fate. So no matter how proper and reasonable your pursuits are according to human beliefs and conceptions, from God’s perspective they are not positive things, and they are not in line with His will. Your difficulties are great because you go against the fact of God’s rule over mankind’s fate, you want to go it alone, and shake off God’s rule and control without being obedient. Isn’t that the case? (Yes.) Doesn’t this fact become clearer the more we talk about it? Where do people’s difficulties come from? (They want to shake off God’s rule.) What is it that incites this desire in people? They always want to control their own fate, plan their own future, control their prospects, direction, and life goals—where does this starting point come from? (A corrupt satanic disposition.) So you understand it now, don’t you? What does a corrupt satanic disposition bring to people? (Opposition to God.) What comes of people opposing God? (Pain.) Pain? Destruction! Pain isn’t the half of it. What you see right before your eyes is pain, negativity, weakness, resistance, grievances—what outcome will it bring? Annihilation! This is no small matter. This is not a game. Some little weakness people normally face, some negativity they have when an issue is encountered, those desires they always have in their hearts, or the impulse to be outstanding or a celebrity that is always haunting people—this kind of satanic nature is dominating people from within, can they live happily? (No.) If you don’t free yourself from these things, your pain will not lessen. That is, it will always follow you and will cut your heart like a knife. How is this resolved? (By seeking the truth.) Now you’re able to generally speak about the framework to first seek the truth when you run into an issue, and you have awareness of this. So how about the details of seeking the truth? Now you all understand that only seeking, understanding, and gaining the truth can resolve people’s corrupt dispositions, and only by resolving their corrupt dispositions can they truly have joy, peace, real comfort and happiness. Only this way can they truly come in front of God. This is resolving it from the root. But how do you start doing this—do you know? How do you start out in your seeking of truth? Say something detailed, something practical. (When I have certain thoughts or behaviors, like pursuing reputation and status, when I am able to notice them, I’ll first dissect them, then through that I can recognize that it’s Satan’s web that brings harm to people. I can see clearly the path that I’m on. Then through eating and drinking God’s word, praying to God, and cooperating with God, I turn my back on these shackles that Satan brings to me.) Yes, and who else has this kind of experience? (First I turn my internal perspectives around, understand what harm Satan’s corrupt disposition brings to people, then gradually establish a proper relationship with God. I come in front of God more for prayer, to be close to Him.) Anything else? (Sometimes I have a certain state when I encounter an issue and I don’t know what kind of corrupt disposition caused it. The first thing I do is pray to God, and ask Him to enlighten me and help me understand. I will also seek out brothers and sisters for fellowship and dissect my behavior. By their sharing experiences with me, I can better see through my state and know what caused me to be negative and weak, and then look for words of God corresponding to that to resolve it.) (When encountering an environment that’s not in line with my own will, I’ll keep analyzing the matter, and dwell on whether it is right or wrong. At this time, I will quiet my heart in front of God and obey that environment. That is, from the foundation of believing in God’s rule, I pray to God and seek Him. Then God will enlighten me to understand which aspect of my corruption was revealed and what His will is. Then I can enter in from there.) Go ahead and chat about this, everyone. Learn to communicate the truth, pray-read, and share; you have to open your mouths. Learn how to pray-read, share your personal understanding, experience, and thoughts and learn to open up, and then you will gain more and more, and understand more and more. Hearing all this that you’ve said, I see that over the two years you’ve really progressed. It seems that you have not been performing your duty in vain these last two years! You’re no longer simply believing in God in name only. It is in your hearts, you have some entry, and you also have some understanding within you. You have life, and you have laid down the root. Great! It turns out that it’s not difficult to believe in God. As long as people set their minds to it, and they can listen to and act according to His words, it is not difficult to achieve, right?

What was the question just now? (What the details of seeking the truth are, and how to seek the truth to resolve people’s corrupt dispositions and truly come in front of God.) A few of you just shared with us. Each person spoke to one aspect—it was great and all applicable. Anyway, when someone believes in God, what is the most important thing to believe in? People must be clear on one fact: Believing in God is not believing in the name of God, and it’s not believing in some vague sort of shrine that people think just sits there in one place. You must believe in God’s essence, His disposition, and in what He has and is. You must believe in the fact that God rules people’s destinies, that He rules your destiny. So what counts as belief? Isn’t there still what people should actually cooperate with and put into practice? What counts as believing? When encountering an issue, a certain environment, which is a bit disturbing and leads to minor emotional fluctuations, some people think: “Ugh, that issue that I encountered today was all that sister’s fault; she was just finding fault. If she weren’t like that, if she hadn’t started it, this wouldn’t be so embarrassing.” This person searches for a reason in many aspects, and finally finds one: It was that sister’s fault. He pushes all the responsibility onto her, and in the end he has peace of mind: “I found a way out. That problem is resolved, there’s no difficulty anymore. It’s okay, it’s taken care of! How about that, huh? Believing in God is carefree and joyful—I understand the truth!” What kind of way is this to address problems? Can the truth be gained through this method? Is this an attitude of obedience to God? (It’s not.) So what kind of perspective is this belief in God coming from? What way of believing in Him is this? Is this person applying the words “God rules mankind’s destinies, and all things and all events are in His hands” to their actual life? (No.) Why do you say that? (If someone believes in the sovereignty of God, they will believe that the people, events, and things that they encounter on a daily basis are God’s rule and arrangements, that they are not the work of man.) So having that kind of belief using human methods and thinking to analyze the issue and using human methods to resolve it, is that believing in, cooperating with, or obeying God’s rule over people, events, and things? First, he wasn’t obedient. Then, he made a greater mistake. What was that? (Only looking at the other person.) Ah, what kind of mistake is this? (He’s not trying to know himself, but only trying to know others.) This is a minor issue. What’s the major issue? First, when he encountered this issue he wasn’t obedient—this is already a mistake. Next, within the environment, people, events, and things that were set up by God, he wasn’t able to accept them from God. He just looked at the appearance of things, of the environment, and then analyzed it with a human mind, resolved it with human methods. Isn’t this another mistake? Is it a major mistake? (It is.) What makes it major? (Not believing in God’s rule over everything.) Aha, he didn’t believe. He thinks that everything just happens randomly: “Everything is under God’s rule? Yeah, right! So many things—how could God rule all of them? As if this were God’s rule…. You are just blindly applying it to this case. It’s not the case with this—it’s an exception!” So this is an exception and that is an exception—the way he sees it, everything is an exception. There isn’t a single thing that is ruled by God. It’s all designed by humans, it’s all from human actions. Can this be called believing in God? So has the essence of believing in God been embodied here? (No.) Why do you say that? He doesn’t believe that God can rule over everything and that God can set up all things, all events and all environments. He cannot accept them from God. He feels that God can’t set up these things because God can’t see them. These environments just occur randomly—they are from human action, and they are not set up by God. So what’s the essence of this belief of his? (He’s an unbeliever.) Right! This is an unbeliever! The perspective of unbelievers is never accepting a single thing from God, but utilizing the perspective, the mindset, and the methods of humans to rack their brains to deal with it. It’s what an unbeliever does.

When you run into that kind of person in the future, you should discern them. As soon as they encounter an issue they think and think, they look into this and that, and they resolve it with human methods. Either they try to smooth things over, or they spread the blame around, or they talk about doctrine—they don’t believe it was God’s doing, and they have never accepted from God any kind of environment set up by Him. They have never accepted from God anything that has happened around them. Normally, they will pay lip service and say: “I believe that mankind’s fate is in God’s hands and I am willing to be obedient before Him, to submit to His rule and His arrangements.” But when they encounter an issue they don’t think that way. They don’t accept it that way, and they’re not obedient in that way. This is an unbeliever. Is there this kind of person around you? (Yes.) How should you help them? Are they easy to help? Do you yourselves have any of these perspectives? (Yes.) You have expressions of unbelievers, but are you one of them? Is this completely your thinking? You never honor the fact that any type of environment, and any person, event, or thing is all in God’s hands, and you do not acknowledge or accept this fact, is this the case? How much can you accept? How much can you obey? Do you obey the majority of the time? How many things can you accept from God? How many things do you resolve through human methods? How many things do you confront with a corrupt disposition? Is it easy to accept things from God? (There are struggles.) There are struggles—this is a fact. And once the struggles have passed, which wins? (Obedience to God wins.) Then are you winners or losers most of the time? (Sometimes we lose, sometimes we win.) So it’s half and half, right? (Yes.) That’s not bad—there’s hope yet for you! Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, do not become negative and retreat. Continue to work hard; there is hope, and that is a good thing!

Now, gaining the truth for people is like a warrior going to battle. You need to battle various satanic corrupt dispositions anytime and anywhere. And what’s the battle weapon? (The truth, God’s words.) Ah, the weapon is God’s words and the truth. Then what’s the most basic truth that must first be carried out? (Obeying God’s rule.) Yes. Obedience is the first lesson, and it is the first lesson that everyone encounters. If you cannot be obedient you will be unable to seek the truth, accept things from God, or quiet yourself in front of Him. If you cannot quiet yourself in front of Him, you will not be able to pray, have an attitude of obedience, or seek His will. If you cannot seek His will, you will not understand the truth, or why God has set up that kind of environment, those kinds of events, things, and people for you. If you don’t understand, you will be confused, and if you are confused and are unable to overcome it, you will become negative, be bound, and constrained easily. You will be spinning in circles and you won’t be able to come out from it. Isn’t that true? So does a corrupt satanic disposition bring people a lot of trouble? (Yes.) How great is the trouble? (It prevents people from coming in front of God.) And what else? (It makes people disobey God.) They can’t obey God, so what do they rely on in their lives? (On a corrupt satanic disposition.) Ah, it makes people rely on a corrupt satanic disposition to live, and makes them frequently reveal hot-bloodedness and their notions. Their hot-bloodedness often flares up. For example, you’re in the wrong, and a sister exposes and deals with you. At that time, how should you obey God? How should you seek the truth? Isn’t there a lesson to be learned? You think: “Oh, she usually looks down on me. This just finally allowed her to find fault with me. I let my guard down for a moment and she takes advantage of it. She’s targeting me. Humph, I won’t be so polite either. You’re targeting me, I can do that too. I’m no pushover. I’ll make you see. I’m nothing to be trifled with—don’t think I’m so unaware! I’m not to be taken lightly!” What is this? (Malice.) What is malice? Isn’t it hot-bloodedness? Do you know what hot-bloodedness is? You grab a knife and say: “Who dares to provoke me? If you provoke me, you’ll feel the end of my blade, I’ll make you bleed.” As soon as you see blood, your objective has been reached. Everyone is afraid and doesn’t dare provoke you. This is called being a bully. When your actions are brutal, you engage in brutal tactics and dealings, this is called hot-bloodedness. Is this a good way to explain it? (It’s not.) So what is it? (People’s corrupt disposition and arrogance.) This is a broad way of putting it. What specifically is hot-bloodedness? (When you encounter some issue that isn’t compatible with your own notions, you just impulsively say and do some things.) (It’s a flare-up of a corrupt satanic disposition.) This is basically what it is. Is there anyone that could explain it a little more accurately, a little more incisively? What is hot-bloodedness? (You want to lose your temper when something isn’t in line with your will.) This is one aspect of its expression. Is there anything else? (When you encounter people, events, or things, you feel that they are contrary to your own benefit. And then you resort to impulsive methods from your corrupt disposition to protect your so-called dignity.) It’s been explained fairly well—it’s close enough. Anything else? (When people don’t seek the truth, they release what is naturally inside of them. That’s hot-bloodedness.) Does that fit the bill? (Yes.) How so? The word “naturally” she used is very apt. After people were corrupted by Satan, when their most natural, most primitive disposition that comes from their very root is exposed, it’s called hot-bloodedness. It’s the thing that doesn’t go through thought, mental processing, pondering, pretense, or packaging, but just comes out. This is hot-bloodedness.

So why is it that there is no truth in what comes out from people unless those things first undergo some sort of processing? Why do they reveal hot-bloodedness? What’s the reason? Here’s a fact: When people do or say things that harm your own interests or reputation, if you don’t understand or have the truth, what you reveal is hot-bloodedness. Is hot-bloodedness good or bad? Is it a positive thing, or a negative thing? (Negative.) It’s very obvious that it’s negative. Is it good or bad for people to rely on hot-bloodedness in their lives? (It’s bad.) So if someone encounters an issue and their hot-bloodedness and naturalness are revealed, is this someone who obeys God and seeks the truth? Obviously, in this matter, if that person expressed hot-bloodedness, they certainly were not obeying God. Revealing hot-bloodedness, not obeying God, being unable to accept things from God when encountering the environment, that is, being unable to accept from God the environment, the people, events, and things that He set up for them, but instead wanting to employ human methods to deal with and resolve it. What’s the final outcome of that? What kind of consequences will that bring in the end—what will the outcome be? (God will detest and reject them.) God will be disgusted. Is that edifying for others? (No.) It doesn’t have any edification for others, so what kind of impact will it have? (They will suffer loss in their life.) Do other people like that kind of person? (No.) Ah, other people don’t like them. They’re not popular; they’re irritating. When you believe in God in His household, you are a member of God’s family. If you do things based on hot-bloodedness and you always reveal your naturalness, your corrupt disposition, and rely on human methods and a corrupt satanic disposition in what you do and how you handle things, what will the consequences be in the end? God will be disgusted, He will detest and reject you—He won’t like you. What kind of problems does it cause for others? It causes pain and sometimes even negativity and weakness. It brings people great trouble. So do you want to be this kind of person? (No.) You don’t, so what should you do so that God will like you, and others will be edified? (Seek when encountering an issue. That is, if something isn’t in line with our own notions, we should first seek God and try to find out the things lacking in us that God wants to supplement.) Ah, so first quiet yourself and come in front of God. Don’t do things for other people to see. Every day, every minute, every second of your life, the things that you want to do, the thoughts that you have, God is examining all of this. He is watching. So what in you is He watching, and observing? (What people’s reactions are when they encounter the people, events and things set up by God, and what’s in their hearts and minds.) Why is it that God is looking that closely? What does He want to grasp about you? (To see if people fear God and shun evil.) This is one aspect of it. There’s one more primary thing—give it some thought. (To see if people have a heart of seeking the truth and quieting themselves in front of God at all times.) Whether they fear God and shun evil, or have a proper relationship with God, what is all of this? Isn’t this an issue concerning what path people take? (Yes.) God is always watching you, He is always examining you to see what kind of path you’re taking, what your life goal and direction are, if you select the correct path or the path of evil. This is what God is watching. If your general direction is right, God will guide you, enlighten you, and provide you with sustenance and support. If your general direction is wrong, and if it’s very serious, God will abandon you. Some people always speak words and doctrines, and they do things that violate the principles, or even some things that harm the interests of the house of God. But why aren’t they disciplined, why aren’t they reproached? What is that about? God has abandoned them. This is disastrous! What’s the path that God would have people take? What path is it that He wishes, He hopes for them to take? When God sets up an environment, does He hope that people will be obedient, rebellious, sitting on the fence, or be stagnant and not move? Or be cold? Do you know what God’s attitude is, and what His wishes and hopes are for people? (He hopes for people’s obedience.) He hopes that people can obey, that they cooperate with a positive attitude, that they are not passive and slack, and that they are not cold. Some people say: “I don’t obey, and I’m not indifferent. Can’t I just sit on the fence?” What kind of perspective is this? They’re lukewarm toward their duty; they can accept any environment that’s set up for them, but they simply don’t seek the truth or God’s will. What kind of attitude is this? There can’t be anything wrong with this—it can’t be condemned. They didn’t offend God’s administrative decrees, and they didn’t offend God’s disposition or cause mischief, and they are, after all, still performing their duty. So how about this attitude? (It’s not good.) How so? How is it not good? Tell Me. (It’s a negative, passive state. It’s not an attitude of proactiveness or obedience; this is an attitude that disgusts God.) What disgusts God? (God is disgusted by people’s lukewarm attitudes.) God doesn’t like people who are lukewarm, but is it really true that He likes people to do things with enthusiasm, positivity, and great energy? What kind of attitude is lukewarm? What kind of essence is it? (Recently, I was faced with some dealing and pruning, being exposed by God, I felt that my attitude was lukewarm. It was an attitude of shutting my heart to God, and in all things it seemed that I was guarding against God. This was one of the reasons that I have seen why I was so negative. And from the outside, my brothers and sisters couldn’t find out about my state of rebelliousness against God, but they could feel that I seemed to not have any obvious enlightenment from the Holy Spirit, and that I wasn’t in a state of active cooperation with God. I think that it was because my heart was closed to God. It felt as if I didn’t want to be close to God, so this led to me being really negative and passive for a while. I was also in pain. As soon as I started resisting God, as soon as my heart was closed to Him, it seemed that I was without the Lord. So, I feel that when people are passive and slack, when they have a lukewarm attitude, it’s like a slow suicide. When people go far from God, they don’t just die right away. They’re like a tree that has its roots cut off; they slowly wither, finally are detested and rejected by God, and then they die.) He expressed this very well. This state that he described is real. Most people probably experienced this lukewarm state: “I’ll do whatever I’m told to do and I won’t cause any problems. I’ll do whatever I have to, but I’m lukewarm.” Why does God detest this kind of attitude? What sort of essence is this—do you know? Is this God first rejecting people, or people rejecting God? First talk about this. (It’s people rejecting God.) You see, it’s a serious problem. It’s you first rejecting God, being closed off to God. “Closed off” is a way of putting it, but in actuality, it’s locking up your heart and keeping God outside. How can “keeping God outside” be explained? It’s this: “I don’t want You anymore. We’re not associated any longer, and I won’t have anything to do with You. All relations have been cut off; there’s no contact. It’s shut off. I don’t want God anymore.” So when a creature has that kind of attitude toward the Lord of creation, how does God handle it? What is God’s attitude? First, when God sees this kind of state in people, is He happy, disgusted, or hurt? (Hurt.) Yes, first He’s hurt. He sees people’s numbness, then He’s disgusted. So when God is disgusted and hurt, what does He do? When people shut themselves off to Him, what kinds of actions does He take? (God sets up an environment so that people can understand His will and open their hearts up.) This is the positive aspect of it; sometimes God will do this kind of thing. But sometimes God doesn’t do that. Sometimes He waits. He hides His face from people, and meanwhile, He waits. He waits for the time that you will open your heart and accept Him. Then He will continue to have mercy on you and enlighten you. But overall, if you have this kind of attitude, if you are completely closed off to God, refuse to have a proper relationship with Him and to communicate with Him, that is refusing His rule and guidance in your life. That is equivalent to not acknowledging that He is your God and that you no longer want Him to be your Lord. If you refuse to allow God to be your God, to be your Lord, will He still work on you? All He can do is abandon you. At whatever point you turn around and you understand, when you know you should repent, it is then that God will work on you again. So, God definitely does not work in the face of people’s lukewarm attitudes. Do you have any experience with this? (Yes.) What were your conditions? Was it easy to take, or was it distressing? (It was distressing.) What degree of distress was it? Tell Me. (We are like the walking dead. No thoughts, no spirits, and we’re living just like an animal.) If people don’t have God in their hearts, aren’t their hearts empty? When people’s hearts are empty, are they still people? Once someone’s spirit is gone, when the Lord of their spirit is no longer with them, they’re no longer a person. This is terrifying! If people become a little careless and they get stuck in an incorrect state, their conditions will change right away. The state in their spirit will quickly sink, and they won’t be able to feel God any longer. They will not feel God with them, and their reliance on Him, their relationship with Him will turn to nothing. This is terrifying.

Just now when we were having fellowship on this, this brother volunteered this fellowship on the state and condition that he’s experienced—he shared all of this. Wasn’t it beneficial for everyone? (Yes.) So how will you handle it when you encounter this kind of state in the future? (Open my heart to God and pray to Him; no longer live within a state of corruption.) Ah, you must have an attitude and rush to pray and repent. Otherwise, people will always be within a state of being utterly abandoned by God where they cannot feel Him. This is perilous! Have you become aware of the outcome of that peril? What negative consequences will it lead to? Do you know? It’s not just a matter of suffering losses or not. (It allows evil spirits to occupy them.) This is one aspect of it. What else? There are a number of possibilities. (Being exposed by God. They’re eliminated by God after doing a great evil.) This is also a possibility. What else is there? (It can lead to the relationship between God and man becoming more and more distant, and people can sink farther and farther into negative states. They just don’t want to get close to God.) So if this condition continues, wouldn’t it cause people to have the thought to not believe in God? (Yes.) Is that frightening or what? (It’s frightening.) If someone doesn’t believe anymore, doesn’t that mean that they no longer have any relationship with God at all? That really is the most frightening; it’s terrible! Have you ever been in that kind of state? Has that sort of idea ever occurred to you? (We have.) When you had that thought, what were you thinking at that time? (To rush in front of God, acknowledge my error, and to pray and repent.) (When I was in that kind of state, I would think of what was spoken of in God’s fellowship, that whatever attitude someone has toward God is the same kind of attitude that He has toward them. I would think of His righteous disposition, and then I’d feel fear in my heart. Then I would hurry in front of God to pray and repent.) You see, now you’re in a good state, but compared to being in a bad state, these are two different human conditions. When people are in a good state, they have a wave of energy which gives them a type of fervor. You may say that you won’t ever get married, and no matter how greatly you suffer, you will follow God and be devoted to Him to the very end, until the day you die. You have that kind of resolution, right? Where does that kind of resolution come from? Is this a positive or a negative thing? (A positive thing.) So are positive things pleasing to God? (Yes.) Yes, they are. God examines people’s hearts, He examines how they feel in the depths of their hearts and what their state is at the time. So He examines the wishes that come from deep in your heart at the time. Where do these wishes of people come from? Do they come from their naturalness, from their hot-bloodedness? (They are given by the work of the Holy Spirit.) That’s right! When people are living in a proper state, the Holy Spirit gives them that kind of strength so that they can have that resolution. This is a positive thing. The Holy Spirit gives these to people because of their cooperation, because of the price they pay. Can you just gain this confidence out of thin air? You can’t, right? So what have you seen from this fact? (People cannot depart from God, and if they do, they will die.) See, when people have this tiny bit of will to cooperate, the Holy Spirit gives them such great drive! That brother just said: “People cannot depart from God.” This is the truth, and it comes from experience. When you open your heart to God and you have that tiny bit of will and that pure drive, God will give you such great strength. As soon as someone gets that burst of strength, that energy is more than enough for an entire lifetime and allows them to have such great resolution. They may say: “I offer up this life of mine to God. I will expend myself for Him; I will live for Him!” This is a fact! People think this way and they want to do this. But when people rely on their own minds, abilities, gifts, and thinking, how much energy do they have? Do they have that burst of strength? Do they have that resolution? (No.) No matter how you cooperate, it doesn’t work. Humans cannot achieve this—this energy is something given by God. So what’s going on when someone loses this energy? What leads to that? (Their heart isn’t open to God. They don’t have a proper relationship with God.) Aha, they don’t have God in their heart, so that strength is gone. That energy that people have is all the work of the Holy Spirit—it’s all strength given to man by God. It is all God’s work. As soon as your heart is closed, as soon as you say “no” to God, reject His rule over you, reject the life that He has designed for you as well as your surrounding environment and the people, events, and things that He has arranged for you, what will that be like? You’ll lose that burst of energy. When someone loses God, it really is this frightening. Isn’t that the truth? (Yes.) So you’ve seen this issue clearly, right? When people lose God, they are nothing. As soon as people close their hearts, even the thought of not believing in God will occur to them at any time, at any place. And what is the most frightening thing? That idea will grow stronger, and they will even regret their initial dedication, what they have expended, that kind of resolution, and the suffering they endured. You see, those two conditions are utterly different. They may as well be two different people. What is that about? When people live within the scope of the people, events, and things designed by God, when they can obey those things, they will live with joy and comfort. If people always want to break free of them and don’t want to obey their surrounding environment that is ruled by God, how does that make people feel? What kind of condition does it bring about? It makes people feel darkness, pain, and restlessness. They live in a constant state of panic and fear and feel miserable. See, it’s different. Is this a large difference? (Yes.) In a good state, where does it feel like you are living? (In heaven.) It’s like being in heaven, just like living in paradise. As for a bad, dark state, it’s like living in what? (Hell.) Have you had a taste of life in hell? Is it a nice taste? (Not at all.) Describe it with one sentence. (It’s a living death.) That’s right, it’s a living death. It’s more painful than dying—it’s excruciating. This is really an apt way of describing it.

In short, what is it that we’ve fellowshiped about? What’s the topic? (Obeying God.) Yes, obeying God. How do people seek the truth? How do they gain the truth? What were we just saying about this? (Opening our heart to God.) What else? (Believing that God rules over everything.) So you just believe, and that’s enough? (Believe and obey.) Aha, so you believe and you obey, and you learn your lessons, seek the truth, and uphold your duty within the environment that God sets up for you. If you can practice learning your lessons, will it be easy for you to be obedient? When you’re seeking and learning your lessons, aren’t you avoiding revealing a corrupt disposition and hot-bloodedness? During this process, aren’t you avoiding using human means and human thinking to deal with the people, events, and things that God has set up for you? (Yes.) This way, aren’t you in a proper state? With this kind of proper state, can’t you live in front of God at all times? (Yes.) This way, you’re safe. At all times, you can come in front of God, live in front of God, and seek in the environments that God sets up for you. There, you seek His will and you always obey all of the people, events, and things that He sets up for you. This way, won’t you always be living under God’s eyes, under His care? (Yes.) So after that, you won’t need to worry about your livelihood, will you? It isn’t about a livelihood, right? It is that your destiny will be looked after by God, He will be responsible for it and rule over it, and every day in your life will have His protection. Won’t you be the happiest person? (Yes.) When you are free, you can summarize it and see whether this topic we’ve been fellowshiping about is beneficial to you or not, if it is helpful. Later, everyone can share your ideas together and see what to do to live happily, to be accepted by God like Job, so that you remain in God’s mind, He cares about you, and you are someone that He loves. See what you can do to step onto the correct path. Isn’t this the right path of human life? (It is.)

● Being in Accord Means Having the Work of the Holy Spirit

When you encounter things, you must pray more. As soon as people pray, they have a heart of reverence for God and they do not act rashly, so they can act with one heart and mind. With the work of the Holy Spirit, they can be in accord. What did the Lord Jesus say? (“That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat 18:19).) There’s another. (“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the middle of them” (Mat 18:20).) So what’s the issue here? (We can’t act all on our own.) You do things on your own, you’re off in your own world. That doesn’t work, right? “You can’t act all on your own.” Using the language of a believer in God, what do these words refer to? (We should collaborate harmoniously.) Collaborate harmoniously, do things with one heart and mind, have a common goal. Colloquially, it can be said that “sticks in a bundle cannot be broken.” So how can you become like a bundle of sticks? You must be in accord, and then the Holy Spirit will work; that is how the Holy Spirit works. When you’re all in your own worlds, does the Holy Spirit work? No one is responsible, everyone wants to wash their hands of it. No one wants to take responsibility, no one wants to put effort into it, and no one wants to lead the charge or suffer for it. So can the Holy Spirit do His work? (No.) Why not? When people exist within an erroneous state, the Holy Spirit walks away and God is no longer with them. So is He still working? God is disgusted, so He hides His face from them and the Holy Spirit hides Himself. God stops working and He says: “Do what you will!” He casts you aside. Aren’t you finished? Then you can’t accomplish anything! So why is it so difficult for non-believers to accomplish things? Isn’t it because every person holds tight to their own thinking? Since this is the case, nothing can be done successfully. Doing anything at all is exhausting, even a really simple thing. They are living under Satan’s domain. If you act like them, then what’s different between you and them? There’s no difference at all. Once the essence and nature of Satan take hold and take the lead among people, the Holy Spirit will not work and He will hand them over to Satan. When they are handed over to Satan, strife, jealousy, and ugliness all appear among them. What kind of phenomenon is this? What is this a harbinger of? There’s no work of the Holy Spirit, He has abandoned them, and God is no longer working. When God is not working, can the little bit that people have to offer be put to use? God takes away what you once had, and your little pea brain is useless! All of mankind’s inspiration, wisdom, intelligence, insight, and enlightenment, whatever kind of clarity in something people believe they have, or whatever kind of path for something that they believe they have—where does that all come from? (From God.) Yes, it comes from God. So whether there are many or few of you fulfilling your duty together, no matter what the circumstances are, and no matter when, do not forget this one thing—being in accord. By being in accord, by living within this state, you may have the work of the Holy Spirit.

● Only by Gaining the Truth Can One Be Saved

When performing your duty, you shouldn’t just put effort into it, but also your heart. Only after first putting your whole heart into it can you put all your effort into it. If you cannot put all your heart into it, you cannot put all your effort into it. If you just put in effort but not your heart, that’s just exerting strength, not putting your heart in. When doing things, if you just put effort into it, but not put your heart into it, that is not pleasing to God. You should put in your whole heart, all of your effort, and all your mind to satisfy God at all times. Do not spare any effort. Do not hold back anything. If you say “I have a certain amount of strength; I’ll give God half of it. How about that other half? I’ll take a break—I can’t wear myself out or compromise my health. If I break down from overwork, who will take care of me?” What do you think of having this kind of thought? (It’s not right.) So how is this revealed? (Not bearing fruit in performing our duty.) You don’t bear fruit in your duty, so will you have anything to lose or not? (Yes, we will.) So what is it? (God will be disgusted, and we’ll slowly lose the work of the Holy Spirit.) This is a loss. Can people feel that loss? If God is disgusted, can you feel it? What is the loss that you feel? You can’t express it, right? You haven’t experienced this. I’ll tell you about the loss that you can feel. When something comes upon you, you won’t understand it. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you won’t be clear on it. You won’t understand the truth. Even if the issue is quite obvious, you won’t be able to come out from it or gain the truth. That is, no matter how much effort you put into it, if you don’t put your heart into it, you will not be able to gain the truth. Isn’t this a loss? Can you realize that this is a loss? (No.) You can experience and understand this gradually. It’s really a great loss! Among a group of people who’ve believed for five or ten years, some have gained the reality of the truth and up until now, some are still speaking words and doctrines. Is there a significant difference between these? (Yes.) As for those who have gained the reality of the truth, how did they do that? Through their experiences. So was this given to them by God? (Yes.) So how about those who haven’t gained that, who are still speaking words and doctrines? Is this a blessing or a disaster? (A disaster.) How so? Can you see to the root of this? Not having gained the truth—is this a big deal, or a small issue? (It’s a big deal.) What does it have to do with? (With life.) Is it related to salvation? (Yes.) If all you do is talk about words and doctrines, what does this represent? There’s a question mark on the possibility of salvation. This is difficult to achieve, right? Some people have believed for over ten years yet they’re still speaking words and doctrines, and there are some who have believed for more than twenty years and they still haven’t entered into the reality of truth and don’t even know what that is. Isn’t the salvation of that kind of person in danger? Isn’t the possibility of their salvation an unknowable quantity? (Yes.) So of those who converted in the same year, which have greater opportunities and hopes for salvation—those who speak words and doctrines or those who have the reality of the truth? (Those who have the reality of the truth.) This is obvious, right? So what kind of person do you want to be? (We want to be those who have the reality of the truth.) How so? (Act practically according to the words of God.) (When we perform our duty we can put our heart, our effort, and our mind into it and spare no effort to satisfy God just like God has said.) This is correct. Whatever God requires, you do—you will gain the reality of the truth by doing so. You understand, right? What does it have to do with? It has to do with your destination. Some people are foolish and are still smug and don’t realize how great of a loss they suffer. They are really full of words and doctrines and have no idea that they’re in danger! What’s the final outcome of those who cannot be saved? First, they will be eliminated by God. In the long run, what will their ending be? (They will suffer perdition and be destroyed.) That is exactly their ending. That is their destination. If people believe in God but end up with this outcome, was this their initial desire? (No.) Nobody wants that, right? If you don’t want to have that kind of ending, then don’t walk that kind of path.

If people cannot attain the truth[a] in this stage of work in the last days, then they are thoroughly finished. They have no more opportunities. It’s not like in the Age of Grace when, if someone hadn’t accepted it, they could still wait for this stage. Whether they were born in China or anywhere else, they will still have a chance. When this stage of God’s work is completed will be when God’s management plan comes to an end. What does “come to an end” mean? God is going to determine the outcome of every single person. The outcome of every thing is near, and the outcome of mankind is also near. His work has been completed to this point, so if people don’t have this vision in their hearts but are always careless and they are just getting by in performing their duty, they don’t take their pursuit of the truth seriously and feel that they have plenty of time, in the end they will miss their opportunity. One day, when the great catastrophe befalls, God’s work finishes completely, He no longer does the work of watering people and sustaining them with the truth—at that time what kind of disposition will God show to this mankind? Do you know? It’ll be His wrath. Another face of God will appear, will be revealed to mankind that has never been shown before. This is now the time of salvation of man. God is enduring. He has been tolerant; He has been waiting. Who has He been waiting for? The devil? (He’s been waiting for those who have hope to be saved.) Yes, He’s been waiting for those who He wants to save, His chosen people, the people He has predestined so that they can all return to Him and come in front of Him and accept His judgment and chastisement as well as His salvation. When He makes them complete, His great work is complete, and He no longer does any work. It certainly is not the time of Noah, nor is it the time of His destruction of Sodom. It’s not the creation of the world—it’s the end of the world. There are some who are still dreaming. They still don’t know it. They have accepted this stage of work,[b] but they still feel no sense of urgency and are just muddle-headed—they do not take it seriously. When this work is done, people’s outcomes will be final. They will not change. People are foolish and still think: “It’s no problem. God will provide more opportunities.” He gives people chances when He is working, so when the age ends, how can there be any more chances? Isn’t that just dreaming?